


Red

by mickeylovesian



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Future Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-15
Updated: 2014-07-15
Packaged: 2018-02-08 23:59:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1961145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mickeylovesian/pseuds/mickeylovesian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mickey never came out at the bar; Ian and him broke up and moved on.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Red

“I want ice cream.”  
“Well you’re not going to get it if you ask like that are you?”  
“Can I please have ice cream?” Mickey looked at his son; his dark hair fell into his face obscuring his blue eyes. “Mama always lets me get an ice cream after school.”  
“Yeah, well I’m not your mother,” he said, but he led Yevgeny to the vendor selling ice cream on the corner.

  
Besides his hair and eyes, Yevgeny Milkovich was nothing like Mickey had been at seven; Svetlana saw to that. She gave everything she had into raising the kid so that he would have a better life than them. Before he had started kindergarten she had entered him into a lottery to get him enrolled in one of the better schools on the North Side. As much as Mickey complained about having to take the train to pick him up, he knew it was for the best. Whatever issues they had, Mickey couldn’t help but admire her love for their child.

  
“Did I tell you I got to pick a prize for getting so many good behavior stickers this week?” he asked as they stepped in line.  
“No, what did you choose?”  
“A dinosaur. I’ll show you on the train.”  
“What do you want?” Mickey asked as they stepped up to the vendor.  
“Rocket pop.”  
“Two rocket pops.”  
“We aren’t going to get one for mama?”  
“No, it will melt on the train.” Mickey paid the vendor, grabbed his son’s hand and walked to the corner to wait for the light to change. He was in the middle of tearing the popsicle open with his teeth when Yevgeny spoke.

“Papa T says that two boys holding hands is wrong.”

He followed his son’s gaze diagonally across the street and inhaled sharply. His hair was shorter and his eyes were hidden behind a pair of expensive sunglasses but Mickey would have recognized him anywhere.

 

He never imagined it would be possible, but Ian had successfully managed to avoid him after it ended. Eventually he heard through South Side talk that he had finished high school and moved to Florida to go to college. Fucking Florida. In those short few perfect weeks they had had together, it had been one of his great plans. As much as it had pained him, he had been glad he had fulfilled one.  
Mickey, for his part made a decision after he had let Ian storm out of the Alibi all those years before. Even if it meant staying with Svetlana, he was going to try and be the father Terry never was. And although it sometimes tore him up inside that deep down he knew he could never love him as much as Svetlana did, he was proud of the fact that his son was never scared of him, or to be who he was.

 

And here they were, seven years later, Mickey hand in hand with his son and Ian holding hands with a man who wasn’t him. Ian hadn’t noticed him; he thought about calling out across the street just to say hey. He opened his mouth but shut it right away. The other guy had leaned in and whispered something in Ian’s ear and Ian had burst out laughing. Mickey’s heart sank a bit. Ian was happy and Mickey had no part in his life anymore. They had both made their own choices.

  
“Don’t listen to him. Your grandfather is a fucking idiot,” Mickey finally said. His son grinned at his cursing.  
The light changed, the walk signal flashed, and both sets of boys holding hands began to make their way across the street going in opposite directions.

 

As they settled in for the train ride back to the South Side, Yevgeny pulled out his dinosaur. It was a tiny, red T-Rex.  
“Why’d you pick that one?”  
He shrugged and said, “Red’s my favorite color.”  
Mickey closed his eyes and saw a vision of Ian’s red hair shining in the May sun. “Yeah kid. Mine too.”


End file.
